A Tortured Soul
by Stormfalcon
Summary: This takes place in the future and is about the remnants of the X-Men after a great battle that no one remembers. Mutants have been hunted to near extinction and there are only a few left which live in fear. This contains some of the the old team though
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or anything

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or anything.

Future's Kiss

The world had changed in the last fifteen years. She remembered when it was a good place to live and when mutants may have been hated but they hadn't been hunted to near extinction. Jubilee stood on the doorsteps of what was her institute now since the professor had died fifteen years ago. When he had died with most of the X-Men that day the world was thrown into chaos as the U.S. government teamed with anyone they could in order to bring about the destruction of mutantkind.

There had been so many deaths during the next ten years that the time after Xavier and the X-Men had come to be known as the cleansing. During those years mutants were hunted like animals and killed much like a animal was just for the sheer sport of it for most people. Some mutants had escaped and hidden their powers and others had survived because during that time their powers hadn't manifested. 

Jubilee had survived those ten years and afterwards the government realized what it had become and had done away with most of it's senators and other government officials because they had been bloodthirsty people who had been no better than Hitler as many of them had seen it. Jubilee shook her head sadly as she walked into the school. It seemed that Magneto had been right all along and the war had come and mutants had lost.

Jubilee though had clung to the hope that mutants and humans could coexist it was what had made her rebuild the destroyed mansion. She had spent hundreds of thousands to rebuild the mansion money that she had won in Vegas when she had turned twenty-one and had went there to celebrate. There though she even saw mutants beat to death right out in the wide open on the streets and it had made her sick. She had taken the money that she had won and founded the school she now stood in. She founded it in remembrance to Xavier and the X-Men who had a dream that she hoped to one day see fulfilled.

She had a couple of teachers with her who had been old members of the team such as Storm, Beast, Kitty, and even Cannonball had come to help her out. He hadn't been a member for long but he had come anyway. There were just a few other members of the X-Men who were still alive and Jubilee was determined to find them with the help of Cerebra who was Cerebro's sister computer since he had been demolished along with the original mansion.

Jubilee had been out walking the woods that had been the haunt of Wolverine when she had gotten word from one of her students, Jenna the local telepath, that Cerebra had found Rogue. Jubilee had been excited since Rogue had been one of the toughest of the X-Men and she would be a great help in teaching the fighting arts to the students which they needed to know if they were ever going to be the heroes that the original team was. 

Storm could teach but she was starting to get old and she was slowing down though her mastery of the elements was a great as ever if not more so. She was still beautiful though even to many of the younger male students who knew that they couldn't have Jubilee or Kitty. She smiled wondering if she had ever been like that with any of the X-Men when she had first arrived or if she had been like she thought that she was a hard worker and one who had wanted so bad to be a X-Man.

She had never dreamed that when she finally was a X-Man it would be because they were all dead. She missed them all so much because they were her family. She had went out to the graves where Cyclops, Jean, Xavier and Iceman were buried. She had been just sitting there when she had gotten the mental summons. 

She now stood in the conference room and looked around at those gathered. There was Beast and Storm along with Kitty. Cannonball was away on business hoping to recruit another young mutant so the only others there were her own new team. There was Jenna and Jake along with Ashley and David. Two others weren't there but that was because they had studies that they were behind on and they needed to finish them. It was a school after all first and foremost.

"Well students it seems that we have found one more of the old group. I will be leaving shortly to see if she will return and join us. I hope that she does for all our sakes since we need her to help teach us fighting," Jubilee said. She knew it sounded like she was a general but she couldn't help it. They needed to know how to defend themselves because she wouldn't allow them to just be killed like so many were.

"Go child we can look after the school while you are gone. Beast and I may be getting old but we can still fight as can Kitty. Go and get Rogue it would be good to see her again," Storm said gently from her place at the table next to Beast who was looking more like his namesake than ever. He was still covered in blue fur but he had mutated again and now he looked even more feline in the face but had longer fangs that protruded from his mouth slightly.

"Miss Jubilee there is a intruder on the grounds," Jenna said just before the alarms went off in the room to say that indeed there was a intruder. 

"On the screen please Cerebra," Jubilee said out loud and on the screen popped an image of the outside lawn. Standing there was a man dressed all in black with a gun held at his side. He wore a mask and the gun looked a little different like it was a new model or something.

"Who is that," David asked looking at the man.

"That would be one of the mutant hunters that are still active today I would guess. It would seem that he has yet to give up on his quest but he looks ill prepared to deal with us Jubilee," Beast said as he held one of his hands up and gestured at the man.

"It would seem so," Jubilee said as she started for the door to go deal with the man. She wouldn't let any of her students deal with him since none of them had any combat experience. 

"Wait Jubilee and watch someone else is coming into the screen," Kitty said to Jubilee.

"Cerebra enhance image twofold," Kitty said and the image enlarged and then Jubilee could see it. Walking up the road not too far behind the man came a woman dressed in a tight fitting dress that was red. Her red hair complimented the dress but what set her apart from other people was the white skunk streak down the center of her hair. The wind caught her hair and blew it back from her face and Jubilee smiled happily because it was Rogue.

Then as they watched Rogue changed shape into a small machine that looked more like a robot than a man or woman. It walked up to the man and said in a monotone voice, "They are here but my disguise didn't draw them out."

"That is all right I will just go in through the front door then," the man said as he started for the door. Kitty and Jubilee headed for the same door though it was going to take them a little while to get there. That was why they didn't see a familiar face show up on the screen.

Storm and Beast couldn't believe it but as they watched a man with red eyes and wearing a brown duster showed up with a metal staff in his hands. He walked right up to the two of them and said, "Excuse me but is dat de place where you are going."

The man turned and said, "Yeah why you want to help off some damn mutants."

"No I am here to stop you. I am Remy Lebeau and I don think that is a nice thing that you are doing," Gambit said as his staff whistled through the air and connected with the gun the man was holding. The gun flew from his hands and landed in the grass. The small robot rushed forward on it's wheeled legs and nearly ran into Gambit though he spun out of the way at the last second and just barely ducked a punch thrown by the man. 

Remy brought his staff around as he stood up and brought it down with a loud crack on the robot. It's legs went out from underneath it and it just lay there as Gambit spun away from a kick from the man. Remy laughed at the man as he readied his staff. 

The man charged and Remy thrust forward with his staff. The man was ready though and grabbed it as he swayed to the side. He pulled hard and Remy was pulled forward. The man brought his fist forward and it connected with Gambit's jaw which sent him reeling. 

Gambit recovered himself just as the door opened and Kitty jumped out and attacked the man from behind. The man saw her at the last second and got out of the way of her slash. Gambit noticed that she still had Wolverine's old claw on her wrist and was still using it like the weapon it was.

"I will be back one day mutants," the man said as he turned to run but he didn't move.

"I don't think so," said a unfamiliar female voice from the door. When Gambit looked he saw a beautiful young woman standing framed by the doorway. She was tall standing six foot tall with long blonde hair and blue eyes that were the color of the ocean. He was impressed with her looks but more so by the command in her voice.

"What have you done to me," the man growled.

"I have taken away your ability to move yourself through your own will. You will stand there until I decided to let you go," the girl said.

"Let him go for a second now Jenna. There is no way he can get away now," Jubilee said and she saw him stumble forward as Jenna's hold on him was released.

"You are a fool girl I will kill all of you when I get the chance. I will not be your prisoner for long that I can promise you," he hissed at them. 

"Don't worry you won't be our prisoner at all. Jenna find all the memories in his mind that pertain to this place and anything else about this place and remove them please," Jubilee said sweetly and smiled at the man.

He looked scared of that and turned to run but Remy tripped him with his staff. "Alright Jubilee," Jenna replied and her eyes got a glazed over look as she left her body.

"Why are you doing that to him," Kitty asked as the man stopped struggling when Jenna took over his body.

"Because I can't kill him and we can't keep him either. Remember what happened with Sabretooth all those years ago when we thought that we could change him. No this is the best and most humane way to make sure he doesn't return and doesn't tell anyone else that this is more than a special school for extremely bright kids," Jubilee said in answer to Kitty.

They all stood around for about five minutes when Jenna blinked her eyes and stepped down next to them. The man stood up slowly and looked around confusion evident in his eyes and movements. "Where am I and why am I here. You aren't mutants that much is certain. I must be at someone's house." The man reasoned with himself.

"Yes you stumbled here from the woods. I don't know where you live but we helped you and if you want you may stay here for awhile," Jubilee said.

"No I can't I must be going. There are mutants that need to be hunted down though now days there are fewer and fewer of them. If you will all excuse me I will leave you good people be," he said as he headed down the road and jumped into his car that he had parked a ways off from the mansion.

That was when Gambit laughed and looked around at them. "That was a good trick."

"Gambit it is good to see you again," Jubilee said as she threw her arms around him and gave him a hug as did Kitty. "Why are you here anyway."

"You sent me a letter asking me here chere. Even though Gambit no longer have his powers I can still help you out I tink," Gambit said as his eyes danced with mischief like they always had.

"I am glad that you are here and since you are let me introduce you to our new students. This is Jenna the one that you noticed right away since your eye is so keen for beauty," Kitty said smiling at Gambit's grin her direction. "David is standing there in the doorway yet and he is one of our newer additions."

"Nice to meet both of you," Gambit said as he headed to the door. "Let's go in since there is no more fun out here. I need something to eat."

Kitty rolled her eyes and Jubilee smiled as they followed him inside with Jenna and David in front of them. Jubilee followed Gambit while Kitty took Jenna and David with her so that she could fill Storm and Beast in on what happened and let them know that Remy was here.

*****

"The new group of X-Men knows that we exist now thanks to that plundering fool. At least they don't know that we will kill them all shortly," Said one man with a face covering. They were created by the government and were nothing but killers plain and simple. They had been created to root out the mutant race and exterminate them. They had done a good job until the plug had been pulled. 

They had been faster and stronger than the average mutant and some of them even had powers as well. They were human though with a bit of mutant blood thrown in for good measure so as to give them the powers needed to wipe out mutantkind. They had a Sentinel with them that had been their greatest weapon. He had wiped out the X-Men thanks to his adamantium laced outer body. It was great since he was nearly unstoppable. He had went rogue though and now that damn Jubilee knew about him and about other things that were happening and the conclave didn't like it. They were down to only four now with the Sentinel and that just wasn't the numbers that they liked though shortly they would make their move on the new X-Men.

*****

Gambit had been introduced to the rest of the team and had found out that they were all nothing more than children the oldest only being twenty. Jubilee was working to turn them into a new team of heroes that the world needed whether it knew it or not. Gambit was impressed with Jubilee and he was glad that he had come back from his past yet again to once again be an X-Man.

He was sitting in a room with Jubilee and Kitty and they were explaining to him why they needed to find Rogue. She was one of the only ones left from the original team besides himself and Psylocke. They wanted to find Betsy as well since she knew how to fight so well hand to hand.

"I am going to California and I am hoping to convince Rogue to join us again Gambit and I think that if you came with me then I would have a better chance," Jubilee explained to him but he was shaking his head before she even finished.

"If I went she would likely tell you that she wouldn't join because I was here chere. Rogue and I had a falling out a long time ago and I don't think that she has ever forgiven me," Gambit said as he took a drink from the ice cold water that was in front of him. He remembered when Iceman would always keep everyone's drink cold with no amount of effort but he was gone now and the X-Men had suffered so much in the last years.

"Then what you are saying is that I will have to do this on my own," Jubilee stated as a matter of fact and not a question.

"That's right chere I am sorry," Gambit replied with a sad look on his face as he batted his eyes at her.

Jubilee threw up her hands but smiled at Gambit as she said, "I guess I might as well take off. At least I didn't have to buy a new Blackbird. I will take that and if any of the students want to come with me then I shall let them. I have to pack and then I am on my way," Jubilee said as she stood up and left the table.

Gambit waited until she was gone and then he turned to Kitty and said, "She is the leader now. How did that happen."

"She rebuilt everything that was the X-Men. She said that she owed it to the man who had taken her in and made her part of a family. Jubilee said that we all owed it to the professor to keep his dream alive as well as owing it to all of the other X-Men and I believe her. We still have something to offer the world even if they still hate us. One day that may change but who knows. All I know is that the world is in serious need of heroes now that most of them were killed off. Too many powerful evil people have sprung up Gambit and there is no one right now that is out there to oppose them," Kitty said as she left the room.

Gambit actually believed her and he wanted to be a part of the team again. His life had little meaning after the X-Men had all been killed. He had never been there when they had needed him and it was something that he had to live with. He wanted more than anything to be able to help this new team so that they didn't fall like his old family had. He wished even now that he had been with the X-Men when they had fallen so that he didn't have to live with the pain of not having them around.

He stood up and left the room as well. He had to unpack what few things he had brought with him. He loved Jubilee and Kitty like sisters and he owed it to them to help teach these new mutants even though he had lost his powers. That was something that he had learned to live without though. 

He had been captured by a group of scientists and they had thought they had figured out how to remove the powers of a mutant and make them human again. Well they had found out and they had done it to Gambit first. They had stolen his power and had put it into one of them. The fool though didn't have Gambit's knowledge and had killed himself and all of his colleges when he had charged a rather large desk with enough energy to kill a small army. Gambit had been in his cell and had been alright even thought he blast had knocked a hole in the wall and allowed him to escape. There had always been an emptiness inside him since that day and he knew that it would never be filled though he hoped that he would one day find a woman who would love him and he hoped that would fill part of the void left in him from the loss of his power.

*****

Jubilee had her bags and was standing outside the blackbird when Jenna, Jake, and Ashely showed up with their bags. They were the three students who had been with her the longest. That and they were the three that were the farthest along in their studies. Jubilee knew that they had been wanting to meet the remaining X-Men because for some reason they looked up to them like they were heroes or something and at first Jubilee had had a hard time understanding that. They had never been considered heroes and yet these kids treated them like heroes and looked up to them. It was a good feeling and Jubilee was glad that they had decided to come with her so that they could meet Rogue who was a major member of the team or at least Jubilee had always thought that she was.

"All aboard who getting aboard. We head out right now," Jubilee called as she headed up into the blackbird and took her seat at the controls. She heard the others follow her and she had to smile. It was the first time that any of them had been in the blackbird and they would be looking around.

"Hey Jubilee how about letting me drive this thing," Jake said as he sat down in the copilot seat.   
Jubilee gave him a sidelong glance that said volumes about what she thought of that and he just grinned at her. Jubilee rolled her eyes and thought there were so few times that the X-Men had ever had cause for humor. Most of their time was taken up with saving the world and other such things. 

"I'll think about it Jake how about that," Jubilee said and then she looked over her shoulder. "Get strapped in or else you might regret it. This ain't no car."

Jubilee then opened the hanger doors and off they went. She pushed the blackbird hard since she wanted to make to LA shortly. They flew for only about five hours before they made it there. Jubilee landed the Blackbird outside the city in a grove of trees where no one would look for it. She then put on the cloaking device and it looked like just a large mound of dirt as she and her companions disembarked from the Blackbird.

"Well that is handy isn't it," Ashley commented as she saw the mound of dirt that was their ride home.

"Hey wouldn't it be great to fly that thing while it looked like that. People would freak out," Jake said smiling broadly and Ashley and Jenna rolled their eyes at him and he shrugged his shoulders at them. "What?"

"You can be such a child at times," Jenna said with a small smile.

"You are one to talk mind havoc wench. Who was the one who started the pillow fight not all that long ago huh," Jake said and then took a step back at the alarming shade of red that Jenna had turned.

"Call me wench will you. You can't even light a fire with your power you pathetic peon of a man," Jenna hissed at him. Jake just stuck his tongue out at her and cocked his head to the side.

"Calm down both of you. We are here for a reason not for your little argument. You can do that later for all I care," Jubilee said to them but smiled to lessen the hurt of what she said.

"All right let's go," Ashley said as she hiked her backpack a little higher on her shoulder.

*****

Rogue was coming out of the courthouse where she had just won another case. She smiled to herself thinking that it was nice being able to be out in public without anyone knowing that she was a mutant. She was wearing a knee-length skirt of dark blue with a matching top that had a white shirt underneath. It was more of a suit but that was besides the point. Rogue no longer had to worry about touching someone. 

Rogue could touch people now it had taken a long while but eventually her power had mutated a third time and that last mutation had been the ability to control her power. It was great she thought since she could now know the touch of a man and of anyone else that she loved. She could hug people and kiss them if she wanted without having to worry about absorbing their lives into her.

When the rest of the X-Men team had disbanded more than eight years ago she had left and because a lawyer. She had become in that time on eof the top lawyers in LA. She was happy with her life but she truly missed the rest of her friends and family the X-Men. 

Rogue wanted nothing more than to meet them for old times sake and talk about old times and find out what they had been up to in the years since she had been gone. Rogue wanted to know about them all and mostly she wanted to join the team again. She missed it because it had been the only stable thing in her life. She wanted to be a part of something good again because she was tired of trying to do the good thing and put criminals away using the law. 

She started down the stairs to her car when she looked down there and saw four people standing near her car. She loved her car since it was a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500. It was her baby and she had paid a pretty price for it and she wouldn't be having any kids messing around by it. 

As she neared the group of people she saw that one of them wore a very familiar yellow long coat with sunglasses on her head. She was still short standing five foot six inches tall with her long dark hair. Her asian features had made her look even more beautiful as she had gotten older and now she was a true beauty and Rogue wondered if she was married. Rogue couldn't believe who was standing next to her car. She had been hoping to see the old team and here was one of them right now. Here was Jubilee the kid that had joined the X-Men at such a young age.

Rogue walked right up to her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. When she kissed Jubilee on the cheek she felt her stiffen because Rogue knew she had been expecting her powers to be taken and her memories but they weren't and Rogue could tell by the look on Jubilee's face that it had surprised her.

"Jubilee I can't believe it is you. What are you doing out here and what have you been up to," Rouge exclaimed happily as she looked at Jubilee more closely.

"It is nice to see you too Rogue and I can see that you have learned a few things since the last time that we met," Jubilee said. That wasn't the only thing that Jubilee noted though about her old friend who she had considered an older more wiser sister. She had first noticed that Rogue hadn't aged a bit in the ten years since she had seen her last. That was a product of Wolverine's healing factor Jubilee guessed.

Rogue shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Ah sugah I have learned how to control mah powers if that is what ya are getting at," Roge said still smiling. 

"Well that and I can see that you haven't aged a bit. But you asked what I was doing out here and in order to answer that I need to introduce you to these people with me. The girl with the blonde hair on my left is Jenna. Next to her is Ashley and that there is Jake." Here Jubilee paused and looked around to make sure no one was around before she continued, "They are mutants just like you and me."

"Oh," Rogue said raising an eyebrow. "Hop on in mah car here and we can go someplace to talk without so many people around."

They all hoped in the car and Rogue jumped into the driver's side and off they raced. They drove to a house on the outskirts of town and while they drove Jubilee filled Rogue in on what was going on. "I am trying to find all of the old members because I need them to help me train the new students. You see I feel that the world needs heroes because there are starting to be too many supervillians again Rogue. They are all over again and there is no one out there to oppose them. I have been getting letters from the mutants slayers that they have targeted me and my students and I can't let them get us. I need the old team back and that is why I have come here asking you to join me again and once again be a part of the X-Men."

"Ya are saying that the world needs us again but they will just hate us like they always have sugah. I don't know if ah can take that again," Rogue said to Jubilee who looked at Rogue with pleading in her eyes.

"Rogue we need you. I already have Kitty, Storm, Beast, and Gambit but I need you and Betsy and that will be everyone that is still alive I think," Jubilee said hoping that would get her to join.

"Ya already have the others. Even Gambit that selfish Cajun has joined up with ya again. Well I think that perhaps I may have to join with ya after all sugah," Rogue said. She hadn't been going to until she had been told that Gambit and the others were already there. What had changed her mind was that the world truly needed heroes and since they had killed all of the others that left it up to the X-Men to be ressurected and to take on the mantle that they had once worn. It would be great to wear the team colors again Rogue thought as they pulled up outside her house.

"Will you really miss Rogue," Ashley exclaimed.

"Ok if ah am going to join up there will be some ground rules. Don't call me miss Rogue for one sugah and another is that Jake needs to stop drooling all over mah car," Rogue said with a smile as Jake shut his mouth with an audible snap. He had been drooling and it was from the way Rogue looked. He had never seen a woman so beautiful in his life except for Kitty and Jubilee. Well maybe Jenna but she was so mean that she didn't count on his list. 

"Rogue thank you so much. I thought that it would be hard to convince you. I was ready with a big whole speech of why you should join us and here I didn't need it. Thank you truly," Jubilee said with a huge smile on her face. She had them all now except for Besty and she would get her in time unless Kitty already found her while she was out here.

"Ya all will need to stay for a couple of days while I quit mah job ok. I need to gather a few things and make it look like I am going on a permanent vacation. Then I will be ready to go," Rogue said.

They all went into the house that was more of a mansion than a house and the first thing that Jake and the other two girls did was look for the kitchen since they were hungry. After that they each had a sandwich and Rogue couldn't help but smile as they sat down on the couch in front of the T.V.

"What do you think is on," Jake asked just before he took a bite of his ham sandwich with chips on it that he had crushed to make a layer of them. He had also added some cheese and mayo. 

"I don't know this is LA not Westchester," Ashley said.

"Well how about we find out if it is all right with Rogue," Jenna said as she looked at Rogue inquiringly.

"Go ahead but no Playboy channel all right," Rogue said looking at Jake with a hard look. He about choked on his sandwich when he heard Playboy channel. That would be great he thought but then he thought about it a bit more. There were too many women there and he was seriously outnumbered. If he wanted to stay a man perhaps it would be better to let them see what was on. 

"I wasn't thinking about no Playboy channel. I was thinking more along the lines of the Romance channel," Jake said with a small smile.

"Yeah right you don't like a movie unless there is more blood in it than you can shake a stick at," Ashley said sweetly.

"Shut up I like other movies," Jake said defensively.

"No you don't. We know that you are down watching TV late. In particular the channel Cinemax springs up in your mind quite a bit," Jenna said with a wink.

"What," he exclaimed.

"That's right. I think that your hand gets quite the work out doesn't it little man," Jenna said innocently.

"Why that is just wrong to say something like that. I swear there is nothing ladylike about you," Jake said unable to come up with a better comeback.

"Oh that hurt I think that it took me in the heart. No wait that went a little wide you need better aim," Jenna said clutching at her heart as if he had shot her there.

"Bite me bitch," Jake growled.

"Stop it children," Jubilee said sternly though she was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Are they always like this," Rogue asked raising an eyebrow.

"Most times yeah," Jubilee said a smile now on her face at the look Rogue gave her. It was a look that said _You want me to train these whelps. They are nothing more than children. Why we wouldn't have even made it to the X-Men had we acted like that._

"Give me the mote damnit," Ashley said as she snatched it away from Jake who just looked at his hand like he had lost a great prize. He got a forlorn look on his face and he sat back in the chair and crossed his arms with a pout. Rogue rolled her eyes as they turned the TV on.

"Jubilee what you failed to mention one of the old team when you were naming those off that you are trying to get to join with you," Rogue said as they sat engrossed in some horror movie about aliens named the Brood that came to earth hoping to take it over by infecting human people. Little did they know but the Brood was real and Rogue along with Jubilee had fought them before.

"Who is that Rogue," Jubilee asked as she looked from the TV screen memories plain on her face of fighting those creatures. 

"Logan you know Wolverine," Rogue said and she could see the tears glisten in Jubilee's eyes. She knew that Logan had been more to Jubilee than just a friend and father figure to her. He had been a whole lot of other things to her as well not the least of which was her protector.

"I don't think he is alive. I haven't heard anything from him," Jubilee said as the tears fell silently down her cheeks.

Rogue moved closer to Jubilee and put an arm around her. "He is alive that I can tell you. I saw him once here in LA and he was the bodyguard of some singer woman who was also a model. I have never seen him like that though Jubilee I think that he wishes that he was dead."

"Really you saw him. He is alive. If that is true then I must find him and talk to him at least," Jubilee said as the kids flipped through the channels as a commercial came on. They came to the news channel and saw that there had been a fire downtown and a small girl had been saved by a man wearing a yellow skin tight suit. As they watched they saw a very familiar man walk into the camera range and then out again. He was short with a muscular figure and hair that was spikey on two sides as it curved upward. He had a cigar in his mouth as well. Jubilee inhaled deeply and whispered, "Wolvie."

*****

Standing on the rooftop of the hotel was a small man who tossed his cigar over the side. He decided at that moment that he would quit since it had never killed him like he had at one time hoped that it would. He rubbed the backs of his hands and thought to himself that he was tired of living. How he wished that death would come and claim him so that he could be with the family that he had failed. How he wished that he had been able to protect them like he had wanted to.

Logan looked up at the stars and a single tear slid down his face. "I miss you all," he whispered to the night hoping that his words would be heard by them and knowing that they wouldn't.

He wondered if there was an afterlife and he hoped that there was for his friends and family's sake. They had been the greatest of people and they deserved a happy afterlife no matter what the humans said about them. Logan knew the truth more than anyone and he knew that they had died for no other reason than that they were different.

Logan was a tortured soul just waiting for the time to come when he would die. His life was nothing but a shadow of what it used to be. He had taken to being a bodyguard for a girl who had no need for one. She was a famous singer and he had saved her life on two occasions though he would have rather let her die. It would have been just he thought since his family had been murdered by humans. 

"One day I will know peace or not. It depends on how I am judged," the man known to his friends and enemies alike as Wolverine said as he turned his back on the stars and moon and walked back into the hotel to once again take on the mantle of being a bodyguard for a girl that he hated to admit he was starting to care for like he had once cared for Jubilee in another life and another time.


	2. An Old Friend

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

An Old Friend

Jubilee was laying upon the bed in her room at Rogue's house, or rather the room that Rogue said she could use. She had her arms crossed behind her head and they acted as a pillow against the headboard of the bed. She was lost in thought wondering about Wolverine. Jubilee wondered how he was and what he had been doing all these years. Most of all though she wondered if he even cared anymore about the X-Men and her.

She shook her head thinking that was foolish of course he would care. He was a member and would always be a member of the team. They were his family as he had said so before and Jubilee felt that if she asked him then he would indeed come and help her out. The problem was he looked different. His face when she had seen it on the TV seemed to hold a great sorrow and that was something that she had known he carried around. Though now it seemed that the sorrow had spilled over from where he had it hidden to appear on his face and to overwhelm him.

Jubilee wondered what could have done that to Logan but she knew that she would find out when she talked to him. He had always told her everything that she had asked or at least most of what she had asked. Jubilee smiled to herself then and thought that it would be good to see him again. He had been her rock when her life had been so turbulent. He had been her father and brother and other things besides. 

Jubilee was looking forward to seeing him after all. Her smile grew wider as she thought of the expression that would cross his face when he saw her. She could almost see it and it made her excitement build for meeting him again. She was nearly trembling when she fell asleep for the night. She would find him in the morning after she talked to Kitty. Kitty would tell her a few things that she might need to know and Jubilee needed to check in. She was determined to check in every day when she was away so that they knew back at the mansion whether or not she was all right. Her sleep was peaceful if filled with dreams of times past with Wolverine at her side.

Jubilee wasn't the only one with dreams of Wolverine though. Down the hall slept Rogue and she too was dreaming of Logan. She was having the same reams as Jubilee of good times past with Logan at her side with the rest of the X-Men. Rogue was glad now that she had all their memories so that she knew that they would never be forgotten.

Even the new team of X-Men were excited because they had heard about the legend that was Logan and they had all hoped to meet him one day. But the prospect of him actually teaching them was something that they had never even dreamed possible. It was what accompanied them to sleep. Their dreams were of a man who would teach them to be fighters.

*****

Logan was sitting in his room looking at nothing just reflecting like he always did on times past. Remembering one day in particular. It was a day that he wouldn't ever forget and he didn't want to forget. It was the day that he had failed to protect his friends and it had cost them their lives. It was the day he should have died with them but once again he had lived where better people than he had died.

Logan shook his head slowly and wished that he could give his life up for tall those who had died that day. They had deserved to live and Logan wasn't sure that he did. He had killed too many people in his days and had been many things and the least of which was a role model for young children. Cyclops though and the others were role models in their behavior and the way they had done things.

Logan had quit smoking his cigars feeling that they wouldn't kill him and he was tired of them. They got old after a while and so now as a habit he carved wood objects using nothing but his claws. Now instead of weapons of death they were also used to create things though Logan had to admit to himself he wasn't any good at carving.

He heard a scream from the next room then and he leapt to his feet with the speed that had caught many a opponent off guard. The scream came from the girl that he was the bodyguard for. A girl of nineteen years she was and quite lovely. She had a room next to Logan's so that he would always be close in case she needed him. 

Logan guessed that after the show she had put on a little earlier in the day she had one of her other security guards bring a man from the audience to her, a fan of hers. She had a habit of that and all she ever did with that man was talk to him and get to know him. She wasn't like some stars who slept with as many people as they could. 

Logan had never been one who liked what she did. True she didn't sleep with them but a even greater peril awaited her. One of the men could be hired to kill her and Logan wouldn't get there in time to stop the assassin. He knew that there were people like that. He just hoped that he could get to her in time this time for that is what he feared the problem was.

Logan hit her door hard with his shoulder and it snapped off it's hinges for in his time away from the X-Men he had mutated much like most of the others. He was stronger now than he had ever been. Logan entered the room and looked around with the practiced eye of a warrior who missed little.

The first thing he saw was that the girl, Arian, was being held down on the bed by a man of perhaps twenty-two years. He had a rage in his eyes that Logan recognized well for he had seen it on many a rapist as well as in the eyes of those who were murderers. It was the look of lust and rage mixed together. The guy had a knife in his hand and was ready to plunge it into Arian's chest when Logan launched himself across the intervening space and slammed into the man.

Logan knocked the man to the ground and he stood in front of Arian, who had scrambled back from them both to stand in the corner of the room. "You picked the wrong girl to try and kill bub," Logan growled.

"You die old man," the man yelled as he ran forward and slashed at Logan who didn't even try to move. The knife bit into Logan's flesh but Logan unsheathed his claws with the customary _skint. _ Logan then drove his claws into the chest of the youth and said as the youth collapsed, "You should have stayed a good little boy and you would have lived longer."

With those words the man dropped to the ground and his eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling. Logan retracted his claws and shook his head slowly. He didn't quite know why he cared anymore what happened to others, and yet knowing that he cared about the girl who was now slowly coming towards him.

He turned to her and she threw herself into his arms. It was weird he thought that he was comforting a girl who was five inches taller than he was. She had to bend her knees to put her head on his shoulder and yet she did anyway and he held her. He slowly walked over to the bed and sat her down on it and sat next to her. 

As he sat down she once again threw her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder and just cried. She cried for everything that happened and for the dead man though she hadn't known him. She cried because she was still scared of being so near to death. Through her sobs Logan held her and said softly, "You are safe now. No one will hurt you while I am here with you."

She looked up at him with tear stained eyes and he noticed how red and puffy her eyes were. Tears still leaked from her eyes as she asked weakly, "You promise?"

Logan nearly pulled away from at that question but he didn't. He looked at the poor girl and couldn't lie to her. All he could do was tell her the truth and yet he didn't want to hurt her. Logan took a deep breath and said sadly, "No I can't promise you that for it is a promise I have already broken once. I won't break it again by not being able to protect you. Though I can promise you this. I will do my best." 

She nodded and put her head back down but instead of on his shoulder she snuggled in close to his chest where she felt more safe. He put his arms around and as he looked down he noticed a silver light on his chest and he knew that her power was manifested again. 

She shifted to look up at him and her eyes were now glowing silver yet her deep blue irises still shone through and she asked, "Will I ever learn to control my power?"

Logan wished that he could teach her but he wasn't much of a teacher in things such as that. He could teach a person to fight for that is what he was best at. But teaching the use of ones power? No Logan had never been good at such things and had rarely even tried.

At that time a man dressed all in the black of Arian's security strode into the room. He looked as if he had a purpose but then he noticed the dead man laying in a pool of his own blood and he quickly looked away. Rookie thought Logan as he watched the man. 

"What happened here," the man asked with his hand over his mouth. Logan knew the kid had never seen a dead person before at that moment.

Logan didn't feel like being nice to the kid at the moment. "You let a assassin into the room to get at Arian you fool," he growled at the man.

The man blanched at the tone of voice that Logan used. "Um . . . Um but I didn't know that he was a assassin," he said lamely.

"As I said you are a fool. You should have checked him for weapons which you didn't did you," Logan growled and the man shook his head.

"Go and get someone to clean this up and have the police get here so that you can deal with this," Logan said and waved at the door. The man hurried out the door not wanting to anger the man that they knew as Death anymore than he already had. The man knew that Logan was more dangerous than anyone that he had ever met.

Logan thought the man was truly a fool and he had said so. He had sent him away so as not to see Arian so shaken after her experience and give her time to compose herself. He knew that she would need it since the media would be like a swarm of bees that had found a target to their liking when they heard about this.

He was still holding Arian half an hour later after everything had been taken care of when a man walked into the room. He looked around and saw Logan and approached him slowly hoping that he wasn't still in the mood he had been in earlier. 

*****

Jubilee was at the entrance to the hotel and was talking to the men in black uniforms with the ear pieces. She knew that they were the girl's security but she needed to talk to Logan and these damn men were in her way! Why couldn't they just let her through. 

She looked at the tall one on the left and said sweetly hoping acting innocent would work. "Would you please let me through I know someone in there and I need to speak to him."

"Who is that you know and we will go tell him," the tall man said to her like a robot. Jubilee figured it was a good thing he didn't have to think about what to say or he might strain himself severely.

"His name is Logan and he is the personal bodyguard of Arian the singer," Jubilee said hoping that they would let it go at that. 

Of course though they couldn't and the other one said, "We know no one by that name miss." Damn what was with these guys. Didn't they know how to say more than a few words at a time? Did they go to the dunce school of higher learning or what? What was wrong with them that they couldn't just go tell Logan that she was here.

"Go tell the bodyguard of Arian that Jubilee is here will you. He will come down and see me then since you won't let me enter," Jubilee said changing tactics. 

"We can't do that. And like we said we don't know anyone by the name of Logan," the tall one said looking down at Jubilee.

She hated stupid people who blindly followed orders. What kind of moron did that anyway? And what was with Logan anyway? She wondered if he had used a different name when he became the girl's bodyguard. She though about it when another man who looked more important came down to speak to the two men. 

She looked at him and said over his speaking to the two men, "Sir I need to speak to a man in there and these two won't let me by."

He looked over at her and his eyes roved over her body like many a man's had done since she had finished growing. It was a gaze that she was used to but still disliked when men used it. It was a gaze that said one thing to her. She was a piece of meat to these men and they wanted her.

The man said then, "who is this man that you need to see."

"I need to talk to the man who is the personal bodyguard of the singer Arian," Jubilee explained slowly hoping if she did then maybe this fool would understand her better than the others.

His eyes widened at that and he looked at the two men sharply. "You didn't let her through when she needed to speak to Death. Are you truly fools or what?" He looked at her then and said in respect, "Come with me lady and I will take you to him. He is in a bad mood today though because of something that happened not too long ago." He explained what had happened to Jubilee on the way up the man figuring that if she knew Logan then it was alright to tell her.

Jubilee was surprised to find out that the name Logan was using was Death. In fact it was a bit disturbing since at one time he had been the horseman known as Death. She wondered why he had chosen it but figured there had to be a good reason. She was also surprised to find out that a attempt had been made on the girl's life. She wasn't surprised though to hear that Logan had foiled it. He had always been the one to protect everyone else not caring for his own well being. She wondered what he would think to see her as the man led her to a door that was ajar and he stepped into the room first motioning her to stay outside the door while he went in and told Logan that she was there.

Fool she thought. Logan already knows I am here but of course the man wouldn't know that because Logan wouldn't have let them know that he was a mutant. He would have hidden that fact and so she stayed where she was bid waiting to be waved inside.

*****

Logan heard footsteps coming and wondered who it was. He had been comforting Arian still for she still clung to him for support. He was getting tired of her handing on him though but he didn't push her away like he wanted to. He was getting restless just sitting in one spot. 

They two scents came to his nose and he recognized the first as that of the captain of Arian's security. The second though he hadn't smelled in more than ten years. It was the smell of a woman grown now and he had figured that he would never see her again. Though it seemed she was on her way here now. 

From where she had come he didn't know and he wondered why she was here now. It was something he would have to ask her. The thing was though he was more surprised than anything to smell her. He had forgotten how sweet she smelled and other such things about her which all came rushing back the second that he picked up her scent.

Then the captain stepped into the room and said softly, "Sir there is a woman here who says that she knows you. Her name is Jubilee and she says that she has come a long way to see you."

"Send her in," Logan said as he stood up. Arian had let go when the captain had entered the room and she was now sitting on the bed not holding onto Logan anymore. In fact her eyes were dry and weren't red anymore. She was composed and was ready to see this visitor that had come to see Logan.

Jubilee stepped into the room and Logan was surprised at what he saw. She had truly grown into a stunning woman. She was beautiful beyond measure now with her dark eyes and long hair. She still wore her sunglasses Logan noted and her face was more mature now as if she had seen too many things and been forced to grow up early, which he knew to be true. She was no longer the little girl that he remembered but a woman and a woman with a purpose he guessed from the way she was standing.

The captain left the room and Jubilee rushed across the intervening space and threw her arms around Logan. She hugged him close like she couldn't actually believe he was there and he felt tears on his chest. "What is it darlin," Logan asked her while he held her close.

"Nothing and everything. Logan I didn't think that I would ever see you again and here you are and I am holding onto you. It is a great feeling," she said as the tears streamed down her face. Logan knew that her tears were of joy though he thought that they shouldn't be if she knew that he had failed all those years ago.

"I am here Jubilee. It is good to see you again after so long. I hope that you have been well," Logan said as she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes so as not to appear too weak in front of him.

"I have been well Logan I have been. That is not the reason I am here though. I wish that the only reason I was here was to see you but I have to ask you something. To ask you that question is the real reason that I am here," Jubilee said as she hung her head slightly. 

"Ask away darlin you know I will answer you," Logan said.

"Well I need to have you alone to ask you. It wouldn't do to have Arian here this," Jubilee said as she glanced over at Arian.

Logan shrugged his shoulders and said, "If it is about us being mutants Jubilee don't worry she is one of us. Go ahead and ask."

Jubilee was taken aback by that statement. The girl was a mutant Logan had just said. That was quite a shocker. Yes it would explain why he was so protective of her Jubilee thought. Well the girl was a mutant and so maybe she could ask Logan with her in the room. After all Arian could always join the X-Men as well and learn to control her gift like the rest of the students.

"Well Logan I need to ask you if you will join with me and the rest of the X-Men. I would like to become a X-Man again and help me teach the new students to fight and other such things that they will need to know if they are to be the heroes that the world needs," Jubilee said a bit faster than she wanted to. She wondered if Logan could tell how nervous she was.

Logan mentally rocked back on his heels. He hadn't expected her to ask that. Hell he didn't even think that anyone remembered the X-Men as more than anything but a myth. That is what most of the X-Men were considered. They were used to scare young children to get them to behave. The nasty X-Men who would come and snatch you away to join their legion if you misbehaved.

Logan thought about what she asked. He wanted to join with her and yet he knew that if he did then the new team would be in more trouble than if he stayed away. He still had too many enemies and they would strike at the X-Men like they always had. No Logan knew that he couldn't join the team. He was a liability to the team and he wouldn't allow that to happen. He didn't want to be the one to watch them all die again and not be able to do anything. 

Yet Logan wanted to say yes so bad. He looked at Jubilee and said, "Who else is in this team of yours."

"Well there is Kitty, Beast, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, me and I found out not too long ago that Psylocke was on her way as well. So those are the members from the original team Logan. I came here hoping to add you to the list which would complete the old team members. We need you Logan," Jubilee added hoping that it would work. She could see the reluctance in his eyes and she wondered why he would be so reluctant to join. She wondered what had happened that had changed him so much.

Arian looked from one to the other and back again. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This woman, Jubilee, was asking her bodyguard to join a team that was more of a myth than anything. The X-Men. She had heard about them as everyone had. Some even believed the stories that they were heroes and Arian was one. She had even wished that she could have been a member when she had first found out she was a mutant. The thing was though the X-Men were no more killed off during the cleansing wars. 

Arian hadn't known that her bodyguard Logan was a former member of the fabled X-Men. In fact she hadn't even known he was a mutant until the time that she had seen him get shot protecting her from a man who had claimed she was a mutant. Logan had taken the bullet in the chest and the wound had healed almost instantly. That was when she had known he was a mutant and then she had told him that she too was a mutant.

"Um Miss Jubilee can I ask a question," Arian said from where she was sitting. She was tired of being hunted by people and she wanted to be something else than just a singer. She enjoyed being a singer but she wanted more. She would like to return to being a singer one day but she had other dreams and one of those was to help people, Since she had mutant powers she wondered if she could possible help people that way.

Jubilee looked over at Arian with a bit of surprise on her face for she had forgotten that Arian was there. "Ask away," Jubilee said.

"I was wondering if I could join with your X-Men. I have heard tales of them saving the world time and again and I would like to be a hero as well. I want to do something good with my powers," Arian said.

Jubilee looked over to Logan who was lost in his own thoughts and then she turned back to Arian. "It is up to you but remember. If you join with us you might have to give up this life of yours. Returning to it will be up to one day if you want to but for now you would have to give it up," Jubilee said serious.

"I know but I would still like to join. I am tired of this life. The media won't leave me alone. They are trying to destroy me as it is so if I leave then they can't and one day perhaps I can return to this," Arian said as she looked over to Logan. 

Logan pulled himself from his thoughts and said to Arian, "It is your choice darlin. I won't say yes or no."

"Then I will join with you if you will have me Jubilee," Arian said with a glint of happiness in her eyes. A glint that Logan hadn't seen in more than a year.

"We would be glad to have you Arian," Jubilee said with a smile. Then she turned to Logan and said, "Well."

"I will tell you what Jubilee. I will return with you but I won't join until I speak to someone. I have to ask them something and then I will decide. Fair enough?" Logan asked.

"Fair enough," Jubilee said. "We can leave when you are ready."

"First I must announce that I am leaving the music business for a while. Then I am ready. That shouldn't take any longer than a day so I will see you then," Arian said as she headed for the door. Logan saw the purpose in the way she walked and shook his head. 

"She doesn't know what she is getting into," Logan whispered just low enough that Jubilee couldn't hear.

"Where do you want us to meet you Jubilee," Logan asked figuring that he would stay with Arian until she was a X-Man and then he would leave. He would go on his own like he always had.

"Meet us at Rogue's house when you are ready," Jubilee said and she handed Logan a piece of paper with Rogue's address on it.

Jubilee then turned and left. She thought that her meeting with Logan would have been a little better but he had been distant. He wasn't the Logan that she remembered and that was something that made her sad beyond belief. She truly wondered what had happened to him that had made him that way. 

*****

"That's right runt you go back to your little X-Men and learn to get some passion back in the way you fight. Then you and I have some unfinished business," a man said who licked some blood off one of his claws. 

The man stood right at seven feet tall and was extremely muscular. He had dark eyes and long blonde hair. He had claws on the tips of his fingers of adamantium along with the same skeleton. He smiled down at the dead man at his feet and blood dripped from his fangs just like his namesake. He was known as Sabretooth and he had unfinished business with the runt.

*****

A full two days later Logan and Arian met up at Rogue's house. He knocked on the door and Rogue answered the door. When she saw who it was she threw her arms around him and gave him a hug that would have crushed his ribs had they not been adamantium. She gave him a kiss on the check then and sat him down.

Logan was surprised that she had kissed him because he had expected her to take his powers but she hadn't. Then he smiled and realized that her powers were now fully under her control and he was truly glad for her.

"Ah Logan sugah it is so nice to see ya," she said as she invited him and Arian in. 

"It's nice to see you to darlin. I'm glad to see that you have your powers under control as well. I had always hoped that one day you would learn to control them," Logan said as he looked around.

"Ahm glad that I learned to control them to," she said as she led them to the living room of her mansion.

In the room Logan saw Jubilee and three kids. They weren't really kids but that is what he considered them. Hell he was older than them by at least sixty years. When they saw him they all gasped. He didn't know what for because he wasn't nothing special but gasp they did.

"It really is him," the man said or more likely breathed. 

"Of course it is him," said the blonde in a tone of voice that said the man was a idiot.

"Here now listen up," Jubilee said in a voice that spoke volumes.

The three stopped talking and listened. Rogue just smiled at Logan as she sat down in a chair. "This here is indeed Logan or better known to you have read the archives as Wolverine. He is traveling with us but hasn't agreed to join with us so don't be a nuisance. Next to him is our newest member Arian who I am sure you all know," Jubilee said.

The boy was about to say something when Jubilee interrupted him. "Don't even think it Jake. Just be quiet for now OK? Wolverine Arian I would like you to meet Jenna, Jake, and Ashley. They are the new team," Jubilee said as she pointed to each one as she spoke their names.

"He is so small though," Jake whispered looking at Logan wide-eyed. He was staring at a legend just like he had done to Rogue earlier but he just couldn't help himself and form the look of neither could the other girls. 

"That may be boy but I have killed more people than you could imagine," Logan growled and Jake flinched back from him and Logan smiled.

"Shall we get this show on the road," Rogue asked. They all nodded and they went to the back of Rogue's house and entered the Blackbird.

"It has been too long since I last sat in here," Rogue and Logan said in unison and then smiled at each other.

Logan strapped himself in and told Arian to do the same. Then as they took off like so many times before on missions Logan thought back. He wished the rest of them were there with him. He missed them more than he could ever say and it was his fault they were gone. 

He looked off toward Westchester and in a whisper said, "Here I come Chuck. I am coming home." Then Logan thought that he had to ask Chuck, Red, Slim, and the rest what they thought. He wanted to ask them if they thought that he should join with this new team or if they thought that he shouldn't. Many would think him crazy for asking the dead but he was going to do it anyway.

Off they flew and in no time at all they landed in the hanger at the rebuilt Mansion. "It looks the same ah can't believe it," Rogue said as they landed and disembarked. 

"Yeah I built it just like the old mansion. I felt that it needed to be that way in order to honor the old team," Jubilee said as she led them inside. Once inside though they found the rest of them waiting. 

Kitty ran forward and embraced first Rogue and then Logan. She gave Logan a kiss as well for he had been her mentor and now he was back. She was glad to see him but in truth he seemed different to her. He seemed to be more distant than he used to be. "It is good to see the two of you again," Kitty said smiling broadly. As she hugged Logan she whispered, "especially you Logan."

"You too Kitty," Logan replied and she could tell that he meant it.

Next came Beast who hugged Rogue and shook Logan's hand. He knew that Logan wasn't one for hugging but he always took it in stride when the women had felt the need to hug him. Logan couldn't believe the difference in Hank. He was more bestial than he used to be but then again he had mutated again. The thing was Hank was starting to look old. "Ah my old friends it is indeed a pleasure to see you again," Hank said smiling though it looked more like a snarl.

"It is good to see you to sugah," Rogue said smiling at the big furry beast.

After him came Gambit who said, "Ah chere it is good to see you well."

"And you Remy," Rogue said as she hugged him close. She loved to feel him close to her and feel the way his chest moved while he breathed. He in turn loved to just hold her in his arms like he used to. He was glad to just be close to her once again.   
"It is good you are fine Logan," Storm said as she stepped forward and embraced him then stepped back. 

"And you Storm. I am glad that you are here to show these rookies a thing or two about being an X-Man," Logan said and she smiled at him. 

Storm then hugged Rogue as Gambit looked Logan over and said, "Mon ami you look different. I think dat you have grown," Gambit said with a twinkle in his eye. 

"Stuff it cajun," Logan said as he smiled at Gambit. 

Everyone went into the living room and they talked of times past and of other things. They reacquainted themselves with each other and other such things. They talked long into the night and were enjoying each other's company. It was almost like old times and they were in truth extremely happy. All of them even Logan was happy though he wished that the rest of the team was there as well. 

The students went to bed early or so it was thought. They all gathered in Jake's room and they talked about the X-Men and what they were like. They guys seemed to be in love with Rogue and the other women of the team while the girl's were giggling like school girls over Gambit. Yes it was a fun night for all involved and then they all went to bed.

Logan though didn't. He had little need to rest anymore thanks to his healing factor. No he only slept once every few days in order to rest his mind. He sat up and wondered about his old friends who were no longer with them. It was something that he did every night. Had the others known they would have told him to get on with his life. They had and he was happy for them. He though couldn't for they didn't know what it was like to watch them all die.

He decided then that he would indeed go to bed and in the morning he would head out to the graves and speak with them. He needed to do something for he was truly wondering what he should do. He only hoped that Xavier was still the teacher and would find some way to communicate to Logan even though he was dead. 

*****

A man dressed all in red and black sat outside the window to Jubilee's room and waited. Yes he was very good at waiting. It was his job for he was an assassin and he had been hired by a very rich man to kill Jubilee. Normally he wouldn't take the job but the man had offered too much and the greedy instincts of Deadpool had kicked in. 

Yes he would finish her off in the morning. He owed that much to her. He would kill her to her face and not like the assassin that he was. She deserved that much even though he knew that he might be killing the only hope that the world had. 

*****

"Dig out our old mutant slaying weapons and get the slayer ready will you," said the leader of the mutant hunters. He was the oldest and he had killed many a mutant. 

The man ran off down the hall and went to gather all the old equipment. It would be needed because there was a mutant menace again. The leader was Jubilee who he hoped Deadpool would take out shortly. After that the rest of the X-Men would be easy pickings or so he hoped. 

He knew all about them because he had a telepath as a slave. He forced her to do what he wanted or she died it was that simple. He did let her wear the cloths she wanted and he did give her a little freedom now and again but he did hate her. If it wasn't that she was so helpful he would have had her killed long ago.


	3. Questions

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

The Question

Logan awoke early in the morning. In fact he was awake before the sun came up which wasn't new to him. He rarely slept anymore and when he did it was only for a few hours at a time. He sat up and stretched. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He loved the smell of the outdoors, of the clean air as well as the scent of pine on the air from the nearby forest.   
He walked over to his bag and opened it. He had packed a very few things but there was one thing that he hadn't gotten rid of when the rest of the team all those years ago had gotten rid of theirs. He pulled out his old uniform. It was truly his old uniform for it was the brown and tan one and he only rarely wore it anymore. He pulled out his customary yellow and black one and sat it aside in a drawer. He pulled his suit on then crept out of his room not wanting to wake anyone else. He knew how to be quiet it was his nature to be a stalker and hunter and if you wanted the kill then you had to be quiet. 

Logan left the mansion then and jogged away from it. He never looked back over his shoulder for he didn't want to see the home that was his and he didn't want the people there to depend on him. Not anymore. Logan jogged through the woods letting the smells fill his nostrils. He loved the scents that he hadn't smelled in many a year. They all came back to him and he reveled in them. 

He jogged past a startled deer that ran off into the brush but he didn't follow after like he would have before. No he had a mission and he had to finish it before he did anything else. The question was like a burning brand in his head now and he knew that he wouldn't feel the same until it was asked. He needed to ask it for himself as well as for the others. 

Logan ran and he didn't tire due to his healing factor replenishing him rather fast. He knew right where he was going for he had been the one to bring them all there all those years ago. He and he alone had done it and he had been the one to dig their graves. He had dug their graves but not with a shovel no. He thought that they had deserved better and so he had dug their graves with his claws and he had paid for the coffins himself. He had done the final ceremony over them himself saying a prayer for them though he didn't feel that he would ever deserve a prayer said over him. No he had done everything himself because he had owed it to them. 

Afterwards he had called Storm on the phone from up in the wilds of Canada and had told her where he had buried them. He had told her everything and had also told her that she could write in the archives anything about him that she wished. He had wanted her to write that he was a failure and not fit to be a member of the X-Men and yet he had feared that she would write that. He knew that she hadn't wrote that though by the looks on the faces of those kids who were the new class. He felt sorry for those kids because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. There were only the original ones that had any idea and Logan more than any of them.

Logan came to a small clearing and he noticed that there was nothing in the clearing but grass. All the shrubs and other such things that would normally grow in the woods was cleared away to leave a perfect unblemished place for the graves to sit. He looked at them. There were too many and Logan was ashamed that he had let them all die. He felt sick the moment that his eyes fell on them. Too many feelings came back all at once. Feelings that he had thought that he had been dealing with for every day since then but he knew better. 

He vision became blurry as tears came unbidden to the Wolverine's eyes. He hadn't cried in so long that he had thought that he had forgotten how. He turned his head away from the graves and yet they called him and it seemed that they held a spell over him. Logan thought that it was as if Xavier himself had reached beyond the grave and compelled Logan to look at them and Logan slowly turned his head back and looked at the graves all nine of them. 

He slowly walked forward as the clearing fell silent. The animals alerted to the presence of a human. He came to the first one. Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman. Logan traced the name that he had carved on each headstone. He went to the next one and traced that name as well. He traced all the names, Bishop, Cyclops, Jean, Cannonball, Archangel or angel as he preferred, Kurt Wagner who had been his best friend for so long also known as Nightcrawler, Thunderbird who had been with the team for only a short time when he had been killed in action, and lastly buried here was Professor Xavier. 

Logan paused here and looked around him. He had buried the professor in the middle with the other eight around him as if to be a shield even in death. They were his students which was the main reason Logan had buried them like that. With them being the students it was only right that he be buried in the center since he had been the center of many of their lives. Also they had been his shield in life as best as they could though he hadn't allowed it very often. Logan thought it truly fitting.

The tears had stopped falling and his face was dry. He shook his head sadly and thought of all the mutants teams that had perished thanks to the governments of the world. X-Factor had died killed by their own government. Then many of the former X-Men members who had left had been hunted to their deaths. Logan turned his thoughts to the team known as Generation X. They were to have been the next team of heroes when the X-Men were too old to carry on. They had all been nothing more than kids. Yet they too had been hunted down and killed. Logan didn't know how many had survived from the teams but he was sure some of them had survived from each of the teams. There were always the survivors and those would be hunters now. They would be waiting he figured for a time to strike back and get revenge or they would have forgiven and they would now be living normal lives. Logan didn't care which road they chose. It was their choice. 

Logan felt a lump in his throat as he thought of all the mutants that had died because he had failed to protect the X-Men. It was his fault that they were all dead. He knew that now and yet he still wanted to be a part of the new X-Men. It was a deeply ingrained feeling. He wanted to be a part of the family and yet he knew that he had always been the black sheep. He had always been the one that Cyclops had told the new students to never be like and never admire. He knew that and yet he still wanted his family though most of them were gone and he was alone.

Logan dropped to his knees then in front of Xavier's grave and put his head against the headstone. No one had ever seen Logan act this way and most wouldn't have believed it if someone had told them. Logan though wasn't all rough edges and unyielding stone. He had feelings and once in a while they showed though he only allowed it rarely. 

"Oh Chuck I am lost and I haven't been that way in a long time. You have always been there to lead me back but now you aren't here. I have no one to guide me which seems childish even to me but I think that I could use your guidance now," Logan said as he moved back and sat on his knees. 

Logan waited and he knew that he would get no response from Xavier. He missed the old man and that brought a small smile to his lips. He called Chuck old and yet he himself was older than Chuck had been probably. "Well Charley it seems you aren't going to guide me yet I still need to ask you a question. You are still my teacher in a few areas. I want to ask you what I should do," Logan said and he paused. He waited because it was just habit.

"Chuck what should I do. Jubilee has resurrected the team or at least what is left of us. She wants me to join and I don't know if I should. I failed you and the rest what is to say that I won't fail again," Logan said as he looked around at the graves that he had dug himself. He had placed each body in the grave or at least what had been left of some of the bodies. He had felt burying them here in the woods where they had lived most of their lives was appropriate. It was their home and none of them had ever told him where they had wanted to be buried when they died. 

"Chuck I think that I shouldn't join Jubilee unless you can give me a sign otherwise. I don't think that I have it in me anymore to fight for these humans who have hunted mutant kind to near extinction. They have hounded us and every time one of us found we are persecuted even worse than when you were alive. I can't keep fighting for these people when they make it so hard. They don't want to live with us even though the government's of the world have revoked the hunters and have given us the same rights as humans. We are still outsiders and what happened to you and the others will eventually happen to the rest of us," Logan said but he sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. He knew that deep down he was still Wolverine and not Death like he was known now. No he was still the X-Man known as Wolverine and he owed it to Elektra who had saved him once long ago to stay the man that she had saved.

He needed to be an X-Man. It was the only thing in his life that really mattered any more. He had only his adopted daughter who had gotten married a few years past. He rarely saw her anymore since she was too busy with her own family. He traveled to see her once and a while but it was only a couple of times a year. 

Logan stood up and looked down at Xavier's headstone. He saw that there was a place left with no writing on it and he knelt back down and _skint _out popped a claw. He proceeded to carve a couple words into that area and when he was finished it said Hero To Us All.

Logan said as his voice grew heavy with sorrow, "You truly were a hero to us all Xavier. You saved all us from lives worse than we had with you. Thank you Chuck I truly thank you."

Logan stepped away from Xavier's headstone then and turned around. He stepped up to Cyclops and Jean's grave and knelt down in between them. "Well Red, Slim I have come back and reported to you like I promised," Logan started as the tears came unbidden again. "I miss both of you as well. I thought of you like my true family. All of you but you Summers you were like the older brother that I never had. I admired you though I argued with you constantly. You were a good companion. But that isn't why I am here."

Logan looked up at the sky through the trees. The sun was climbing high in the sky rather fast and he knew that he had been here well over an hour closer to two hours. He took a deep breath because he had indeed promised Jean and Scott that he would return and report to them about something important. Something that he had promised to do and he had done. Something that was important to them even though they were gone from the world. He had promised to tell them about their daughter as she grew. Their daughter Rachel Summers.

He had taken her to a safe place before he had left with Jubilee and he had promised her that he would come back for her within four days. He intended to keep that promise. He had always had her with him whenever he went with Arian. Arian and Rachel had become good friends and that was good Logan had thought. He had went to keeping Rachel with him after she had been entrusted to him by her mother and father. She had been three. She had always called him uncle which had made him feel happy and that was something that he had very little experience with. 

"Jean, Scott your daughter Rachel has grown into a amazingly beautiful young woman. She is seventeen now but will soon be eighteen in about a month. Of course you already knew that. She has red hair like you Red and her eyes are the most radiant shade of green that you have ever seen. She graduated from high school this year and was Valedictorian. Rachel is a mutant like you told me she would be and yet she is more," Here Logan stopped and looked over to Jean's headstone. He was still getting used to looking at that instead of looking at Red as he talked to her. Even after all these years he was still having trouble believing that they were all gone. Logan looked down at his claw that he had never retracted and cut himself across the forearm. It felt appropriate since they had all died and he still lived. His blood was something that would come back but if he bleed in their presence then he felt more at home with them and their spirits. He felt that by his bleeding it meant that he was closer to death than if he wasn't bleeding and so perhaps they could hear him then. Logan smirked then and thought that he was perhaps going mad.

"Jean she is the Phoenix just like you were. The only difference is that the power was born to her and so she has more control over it than you did. Your daughter may be the most powerful mutant on the face of the planet and she may be the hope of the world if it continues like it is," Logan said as he retracted his claw. His wound was already healed but that didn't matter. No he had just felt like feeling a different pain, to tell the truth, than the hurt in his heart. He had wanted anything else to feel; than the ache in his heart that wouldn't lessen. 

"Oh god I wish that she could have known the both of you. She was so young when you both died. I can tell her everything that I know about you and still that wouldn't be enough for her. I am not her father and she knows that and she knows that I do my best by her," Logan whispered as he put his head to the headstone of Jean Grey and placed his hand on the headstone of Scott Summers.

*****

Jubilee had known that Logan would leave early and so she had made sure that she was awake in order to follow him. She had wanted to follow him in order to see where he went and to see who he asked his question of. She had wanted to know about Logan and how he was now.

She had learned many things in her time since the original X-Men and one of those things was how to tail a person and mask her own scent. She was very good at that since she had been hunted by Sabretooth for awhile hoping that by hunting her it would draw Wolverine out.

It didn't work and she had survived and Sabretooth had disappeared. Yes she wished she knew what had happened to her old friend and she thought that she had a right to know. So she followed him through the woods right to the very spot where the old team was buried. She wondered how he knew right where they were. It puzzled her since she knew that he hadn't returned to the school to find out. He hadn't talked to anyone about it either.

She had hunched down in a bit of shrubbery about fifty yards from where Wolverine was hunched over talking to the headstones like he was mad. Jubilee hoped that wasn't the case. She wanted to get closer but she also didn't want to intrude on what he was saying so she stayed where she was. 

After more than twenty minutes of sitting on one spot she was getting tired. Her legs were cramping and she knew that she was going to have to move soon or else she was going to cry out in pain from the spasms in her legs. As she shifted her weight she heard a man's voice from behind her. "It's all over for you now Jubilee," the voice said in a tone that seemed more lighthearted than it should have with those words.

*****

Deadpool watched from his perch in a nearby tree as Jubilee left the mansion. There goes my target he thought to himself as he dropped down to the ground lightly and followed along behind her. In all his years he had never thought that he would be hired to kill a kid that he had known as a girl. Now though here he was stalking her and planning how to kill her.

He had followed her to her little hiding place in the shrubs. He knew that she was trying to hide from Wolverine and she was doing a rather good job of it. Deadpool thought about just killing her and then he decided against it. Part of what had made him Deadpool was his banter though he didn't use that anymore. 

He stood up from where he was hiding as she shifted where she was in order to hide his own sounds. Then he said quite jovially, "It's all over for you now."

*****

Jubilee spun around and saw a man standing behind her with a knife in his hand and he was dressed all in red with a mask covering his face. She recognized him from the descriptions Wolverine had given her. He was Deadpool and he was a assassin. She stood up quickly and fired her power at him.

He dodged to the side and rolled to his feet as she fired again and again. Each time he dodged and as he dodged he moved closer to her. She was good he noted but she wasn't good enough to get him. "You know I could shoot as good as you are," he said as he dodged another one. He was almost on her now and he knew that it would be only a matter of time.

He dodged to the side but not quite fast enough and he was clipped by her power. She was getting to the point that she could kill a person rather easily with those bursts of energy. He came to his feet and pulled his other knife and charged her as she fired again. He ducked it and came rushing in close with his knives at the ready.

*****

Wolverine had his head down on the headstone when he heard a voice say, "It's all over for you now." He looked in the direction of the voice and the slight breeze shifted and brought him a smell that he recognized. Deadpool. He stood up fast and headed off in the direction of the voice.

He was the hunter in that instance and he was his old self. He sniffed the air and then he picked up another scent that was heavily doused so as to not be noticed. He smelled Jubilee. What the hell is she doing out here he thought to himself as he circled around in order to come in behind pool. 

He saw in a small clearing Jubilee trying to hold off Deadpool to no avail. He was near her and in a few short seconds she would be dead. Wolverine knew that he couldn't live with another death that he couldn't prevent and so he yelled, "Pool if you value your life stop!"

Deadpool stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Wolverine. He smiled and shook his head. He should have known that Wolverine wouldn't let him finish the job though he was glad that Wolverine was there to stop him. In fact Pool had wanted Wolverine to be there that was why he had picked today to attempt to kill Jubilee.

"Oh come now is that any way to treat me," Pool said as he backed away from Jubilee. Wolverine walked into the clearing and looked from Pool to Jubilee and back again as Pool did the same with Wolverine and Jubilee.

"Why are you here Pool," Wolverine demanded as he stopped a few feet from them both.

"You know why chap I am here to kill Jubilee here," Deadpool said figuring that there was no point in lying.

"Why you were retired what made you take this job," Wolverine asked a bit puzzled. He was furious that Pool had wanted to kill Jubilee but Wolverine wouldn't allow that. Wolverine would die first before he let anything happen to Jubilee. He owed her that much for failing to keep the rest of the team safe.

"Well now that is actually an easy question to answer. You see they made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Deadpool said as he threw one of his knives at Jubilee hoping that he could force Wolverine's hand. The knife flipped end over end and as expected Wolverine stepped in front of it and let it hit him in the chest.

Wolverine reached up and pulled the knife from his chest and said a bit sadly it seemed to Deadpool, "You knew you were dead the second you threw that knife Pool." With those words Wolverine threw the knife back at Deadpool who dodged the knife but wasn't near fast enough to avoid Wolverine who hadn't aged a bit in ten years. As the knife sailed over his head Deadpool looked into the eyes of Wolverine as he felt three claws pierce his chest a bit low but they would kill him nontheless.

Deadpool backed away from Wolverine and fell to the ground as he felt weak. Wolverine looked on with a hint of sadness in his face. He had liked Pool even though they had been at odds at different times. Wolverine had known that Deadpool had been slow and so had moved in as soon as the knife had left his hand. It was why Deadpool had been too slow to even register the move. Wolverine had advanced in ten years where Pool had just gotten older.

Wolverine was going to miss Deadpool. The old wise cracking assassin had made the best of his life and now Wolverine had taken it. Wolverine felt bad about that. He knew that there was a reason Deadpool had taken the job though and so he asked, "Pool please tell me why you took this job." 

Deadpool looked at Jubilee and then back to Logan as he said through the pain that was clouding his thoughts, "I am sorry kid. I didn't want to kill you. I was hoping Wolverine would be here." Deadpool was losing himself to memories that weren't relevant to the time as he continued. "Wolverine the greatest of the warriors who at least had a little honor. I knew that I had to have him kill me instead of letting this disease take me. I couldn't live knowing that a disease was going to kill me and it was going to be more painful than anything in history. Kn . . . Knew that Wolverine would be here. Hoped he would end my pain."

"Ah Pool I didn't know," Logan whispered as he knelt down next to him. Wolverine sadness was all the greater at that point because he knew then that Pool had wanted to die.

Jubilee sat down next to them and she had a puzzled look on her face but even she was affected by Deadpool's words though she didn't understand them anymore than Wolverine did. "What is he saying Wolvie," she asked. 

Deadpool continued to babble on as Wolverine looked over at Jubilee. Just as he was about to say something Deadpool's eyes cleared up and he grabbed Wolverine's arm. "Wolverine I thank you. Now I can go see my love but first I must say . . . s . . .say something. Te . . . tell you that the mutant slayers are alive. Fear them. I. . . it was they who gave me the virus. Th . . . t . . . they are hunting the X-Men. N. . . Not only that but they are planning on . . on something big. I . . think that they are going to try to wipe out the mutant race somehow. Tha . . . Thank you my friend," Deadpool said as his breath left his body. Deadpool released his grip on Wolverine's arm and he closed his eyes for the last time.

"Rest well Deadpool. I am glad that could at least help you," Wolverine said as he picked Deadpool up. "Jubilee go back to the mansion now. I have something that I need to do. I need to honor this man by burying him. I think that he would have wanted that." With that Wolverine walked away from Jubilee leaving her in the small clearing by herself to ponder what she had heard. 

"Well I guess I should be used to this. He always used to leave me like this and what was I thinking? I will tell you what I was thinking. I was hoping that he would treat me like the woman that I am instead of like the child that he remembers," Jubilee was complaining to herself. She then turned her thoughts to what she had heard. She had known that the slayers were still out there. She had seen their work from time to time. Now though she had proof. She also knew now that the world was going to need the X-Men again thanks to the warning of a man who was going to kill her if Wolverine hadn't been there to kill him. She shook her head. The world had never made much sense and it had made even less since she had joined the X-Men.

*****

Jubilee made it back to the mansion to see that everyone was up and about. She wanted nothing more than to go to her room and get some sleep though. She had already had a full day and she knew that she had more to do. She didn't even see the worried look on Storm's face as she walked by Storm in the hall. Jubilee hadn't known that she had blood on her jacket until she took it off and sat it on the floor in her room. The blood was Deadpool's but they wouldn't have known that. She yawned and decided that she would explain it later. 

Storm watched as Jubilee had walked by and she had been worried. Storm didn't want to admit it but she feared for Jubilee's sake. Storm had had a gut feeling that something was going to happen and she had learned long ago to trust her gut instinct. It had saved her more than once. Storm turned back into her room and went to the bed where her husband Beast was still sleeping. He was more and more like his namesake it seemed. He slept all the time just like a large cat which is what he was starting to look like. She smiled because she loved him all the same. 

It had been five years since they had been married and they still hadn't conceived a child which Storm really wanted. Of course Storm had a surprise for her husband she was just looking for the right time to tell him that she was finally indeed pregnant. It had taken a few years and Beast coming up with a liquid that he drank that temporarily turned him back into a human but she was now with child and she was as happy as she had ever been.

That was until Wolverine had showed up. She didn't want to admit it but he had scared her when he had first showed up. She had long thought that he had been killed by the mutant hunters, but when she had seen him she had known. She had known that he wasn't dead. She had mixed feelings but she had put on her best face and welcomed him back with Rogue. 

Wolverine had changed in the last years. She knew why but she also knew that he was different elsewise as well. There was something else about him that she couldn't place and it was driving her nuts. He was distant but that was nothing new, he had always been that way. She wondered if it was just fear of what he would do when he found out that she was married to his friend Beast. Beast who had been his best friend. At one time she had loved Wolverine but that love had died it seemed with the X-Men.

She was starting to wonder if she wasn't just fearful because he was such a violent person. She didn't feel that he had anything to teach the new class of students. Jubilee felt differently but Storm felt that all he could teach them was how to kill though she had to admit he had taught Kitty and she had turned out fine.

Storm turned her thoughts away from that since she wasn't finding any answers. She was avoiding the real reason why she was unhappy with him being there. She had taken a lot of time to cover up what had happened all those years ago. She had spent painstaking hours writing how the X-Men had died and leaving Wolverine out of the whole incident and yet now he was here. He was here and he could tell how it really happened and she feared for him.

Deep down she knew that her fear was for him. She didn't want him to get hurt because he was still a friend. She could say that she was fearful for everyone else and yet she knew that she feared for Wolverine. He had always been the tough one. The one that the rest could rely on and he had started to believe it. Then he had not been able to save the X-Men that day. He hadn't been able to save his family and she knew that he felt that he had betrayed their trust. He blamed himself for all of their deaths and there was nothing that she could do or tell him that would make him see that it wasn't his fault.

Storm wished that she could ease his pain because to her it was etched plainly on his face. She wondered how it was that he could deal with it. She knew that he had always been the strongest of them when it came to dealing with the pain but even he had to be feeling the effects of grief that had been with him for ten years.

Storm was glad that the team was coming back together. It was good to see old friends and talk with them. Just last night she had talked to Rogue for a while about what she had been up to and other such things. She had broached the subject of Gambit and Rogue had told her that Remy and her getting back together was not a very good possibility. 

Rogue had changed as well but that was for the better. She had finally learned how to control her powers and the professor would have been so proud of her. Yes he would have congratulated her and told her that he had always known that she could do it. Storm had said much the same though it had meant less coming from her she knew. 

Storm and Rogue were going to go shopping today later. It was something that they had always done and it would be nice to do something that resembled their old lives. Psylocke was to get to the mansion in the next couple of days and then the old group would be together again. 

Storm laid down next to Beast and snuggled in close to his warm furry body. She was glad that they were all back. It was home and they all knew it. The thing was she didn't know about Wolverine. He seemed to have a haunted look about him like he was going to try and do something that he knew the rest of them wouldn't approve of. Storm smiled to herself then. Wolverine had always done things that they hadn't approved of. It was the way he was and she wouldn't have him any other way.

*****

Wolverine had buried Deadpool near a great oak tree. "I will get you a headstone you deserve that at least," Logan had said as he had walked away from the freshly dug grave.

He looked down at his claws that still had dirt clinging to them and said to them, "You have seen a lot of death my old friends. What's more you have also dug way too many graves. One day perhaps you will be used to dig mine." He headed back to the mansion as he sheathed his claws. 

He had gotten the answer that he had wanted. It was not in the way that he had felt that Xavier would normally have given it to him but when you are dead you have to make do. Wolverine looked back to where they were buried off in the trees and he said, "I understand Chuck. You want me to protect them. Normally I would have refused but your message is a little hard to ignore. I promise I will die before I let another X-Man die, I swear it."

Wolverine walked into the mansion and heard the students talking amongst themselves about a test that was coming up or something. He didn't care about that he had something that he needed to do. He went to his room and rummaged around in his pack and pulled out a small disk. He held it in his hand and turned it around and around. He then left the room and went in search of the Danger room.


End file.
